Rules committee advances conference report for criminal-code package that adds sentencing changes and bars government-funded ‘obscene’ performances

Representative Zimmerman told the House Rules Committee on April 15 that the conference committee report for House Bill 10‑14 restores a House‑passed cap on total consecutive jail terms for misdemeanor convictions and adds provisions from multiple other bills.

The report inserts language creating a class C misdemeanor for illegal dumping of solid waste (from House Bill 16‑77), adds sentencing aggravators and mitigators (from Senate Bill 324), replaces an older statutory term for sexual offenses against children with the industry term “child sexual abuse material” (from Senate Bill 326), and includes a jurisdictional “fix” for juvenile offenses. The report also standardizes two bail statutes to 24 hours and authorizes courts to conduct bail hearings virtually.

Why it matters: the package alters sentencing rules, adds a new misdemeanor for illegal dumping, and narrows or expands sentencing discretion in controlled‑substance cases. It also includes an explicit prohibition on a government entity organizing or hosting an obscene performance with public funds.

Representative Zimmerman described the mitigator carried from Senate Bill 324 as having been reworked in the conference report to “open that mitigating factor at sentencing up to anybody charged with a controlled substance offense” under the law. He told the committee the juvenile jurisdiction language appears on pages 10–11 of the report and is new to this draft.

Representative Pierce questioned whether anyone had identified an actual example of a unit of government hosting an obscene performance. Pierce also asked whether the provision—by allowing “any person in the universe” to seek an injunction—creates a prior‑restraint risk under the First Amendment. Representative Zimmerman replied, “I don't believe so … obscene material is not … legal in Indiana,” and said he did not know of specific incidents but that members did not want tax dollars used to fund such performances.

The committee voted to suspend rules so the conference report could be considered after April 15; the motion passed 7–3.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to suspend House Rule 153.1 and amend House Rule 155.1 to allow distribution and a 30‑minute hold for the conference committee report on House Bill 10‑14 — Passed, 7–3.

Sources and procedural notes: the presenter identified portions of House Bill 16‑77, Senate Bill 324 and Senate Bill 326 as incorporated into the conference report. The transcript records questions from Representative Pierce and the committee vote to suspend rules; the committee did not adopt final statutory text at this hearing, it advanced the conference report for consideration.